- A nascent imprint well worth keeping an eye on, Project Squared has its sights set firmly on the techno/dubstep hinterland. Its first release—Asusu's Small Hours / Taurean—was promising, sounding not unlike Peverelist on a heavy Basic Channel tip, but this one really ups the ante (Dettmann and Klock have both twigged on), deftly traversing the sounds of Berlin, Bristol and London without ever sounding forced.
"Untitled" is classic Berghain techno, a frosty, cartwheeling fist-pumper—simultaneously jacking and austere—that, thanks to impressively economical design (it's almost a tool), cries out for heavy mixing. "1993" retains the driving momentum of the A-side, cranking up the tempo to the mid-130s, but veers off on a 2-step tangent with swung kicks and burning sub-bass, over which a sizzling chord stab flickers and flutters with toxic magnetism; fans of 2562, Jus Wan and F take note. "Horizons," meanwhile, makes straight for south London, recalling Kryptic Minds in its bleak, half-stepping doggedness, and while a tad less dynamic than its predecessors (moody skanking is the order of the day), closes out the record in pleasingly heads-down fashion.
Tracklist A Untitled
B1 1993
B2 Horizons